Juristac “Huris-tak” is located near Gilroy, California, south of the Santa Cruz Mountains, above the confluence of the Paro and San Benito Rivers, in the heart of the ancestral lands of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, where for thousands of years, their Mutsun ancestors lived and held sacred ceremonies at this place, before the arrival of the Spanish.
The Indians from these regions were taken to the missions of San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz, where 4,540 acres in this area were later converted into a private ranch, called Rancho Juristac or La Brea.
Currently a group of San Diego-based investors purchased the land at a bankruptcy auction and is currently seeking to develop a 403-acre open pit sand and gravel mining operation over a 30-year operating period on the property.
The plan includes a 62-acre processing plant site, three open pit quarries up to 250 feet deep, a 1.6-mile-long conveyor belt and a 22-foot-wide access road.
It is estimated that 40 million tonnes of sand and gravel aggregates will be produced during the life of the mine.